Five-star Blackburn ran riot at Pride Park to set up an FA Cup fifth-round trip to Bolton.

Rovers slammed five goals in 31 second-half minutes to send their Premiership opponents packing.

Marcus Bent led the charge with two goals as Graeme Souness' men rode their luck in a torrid opening period before turning on the style after the break.

Chris Riggott had given the Rams a third-minute lead but Jim Smith's men were left to rue a glut of missed first-half chances in which they could have made the game safe.

Rovers emerged for the second period a different team and it took them just four minutes to cancel out Riggott's opener when Jason McAteer's corner was headed on by Bent and Garry Flitcroft bundled it over the line.

Eight minutes later Rovers were in front when another McAteer cross found Bent unmarked in the box and the powerful striker headed number two past rookie Rams keeper Andy Oakes.

Just past the hour Riggott's woes increased when he was ruled to have bundled over Alan Mahon in the left corner of the box and David Dunn stepped up to coolly send the resulting spot-kick low to Oakes' left.

Stefano Eranio seemed to have given the Rams a chink of hope on 70 minutes when he converted Paul Boertien's cross.

But that hope lasted a matter of seconds as Rovers swept upfield from the restart and Duff set up Bent to put his side 4-2 ahead.

The Rams' embarrassment was complete on 77 minutes when substitute striker Matt Jansen got in on the act, Bent turning provider to send the former Crystal Palace man clean through to knock home number five.

Rovers' comeback was all the more remarkable after a first half in which they looked like being over-run.

The Rams, making light of the loss of captain Darryl Powell, continued as they left off in Saturday's 1-0 win over Sunderland after Riggott's strike.

The England Under-21 defender strode into the box after just three minutes and sent a powerful header from Craig Burley's right-wing free-kick past Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

Deon Burton almost put the Rams two up after seven minutes when he let fly with a 25-yard right-foot effort which flashed just wide of Friedel's right upright.

Seven minutes later a four-man move left the visiting defence in disarray and when Martin Taylor made a hash of Eranio's right-wing cross Malcolm Christie fired a low shot straight at Friedel.

Then Christie, sent clear by Burton, was again denied by Friedel when he rammed his shot under the goalkeeper but it squirmed out towards the touchline.

Burton was inches from connecting to Eranio's right-wing cross then the Jamaican returned the favour for Christie, who again came close to connecting in front of goal.

Such was the Rams' dominance that Rovers boss Souness was forced into a hasty tactical reshuffle and reverted to a flat back four.

Souness' change worked to an extent for Rovers and they came close to an equaliser on the half-hour mark when McAteer whipped in a speculative 25-yarder from the right which landed on top of Oakes' net.

But Blackburn were sadly missing the forward punch of Nathan Blake, injured on the training ground this week, and with Taribo West giving them no way through they were forced to resort to long-range half-chances.

In short, Rovers were showing nothing to suggest the drama which was about to unfold after the restart.

Teams:

Derby (1) 2 Blackburn (0) 5

Derby: Oakes, O'Neil, Riggott, Carbonari (Morris 68), West, Boertien, Eranio (Higginbotham 84), Burley (Martin 59), Murray,Burton, Christie.

Subs Not Used: Bragstad, Grant.Booked: West, Burton.

Goals: Riggott 3, Eranio 70.

Blackburn: Friedel, Curtis, Berg, Taylor, Duff, McAteer (Keller 87), Dunn, Flitcroft, Mahon, Hughes (Jansen 73), Bent (Hignett 82).

Subs Not Used: Filan, Short.

Booked: Flitcroft, Dunn.

Goals: Flitcroft 48, Bent 57, Dunn 65 pen, Bent 71, Jansen 77.

Att: 15,203

Ref: R Pearson (Peterlee).